What 色视频下载ns can learn from the Arctic Report Card
Heather McFarland
907-474-6286
Dec. 13, 2022
Surging Bering Sea waters, driven inland by typhoon Merbok in September 2022, flow through Golovin, 色视频下载, damaging a third of the homes in this photo by Josephine Daniels published in the Arctic Report Card色视频下载檚 Consequences of Rapid Environmental Arctic Change for People section.
色视频下载ns can learn much about their state in the 2022 Arctic Report Card released nationwide this week. The Arctic and 色视频下载 are growing warmer and wetter, University of 色视频下载 Fairbanks scientists are at the heart of tracking this and other Arctic changes, and 色视频下载ns are calling for people to work together to address the consequences of climate change.
The Arctic Report Card checks in annually on the state of the Arctic via key 色视频下载渧ital signs,色视频下载 ranging from air and ocean temperature to sea ice and snow. The report also discusses emerging topics like increased Arctic ship traffic. It is produced by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and released at the fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union.
Precipitation added as a vital sign of Arctic change
This year, precipitation was added as an eighth vital sign in the report card. For the first time, scientists detected a long-term trend showing that Arctic precipitation is increasing in every season.
色视频下载淲e used more than one data set and got the same conclusion 色视频下载 the Arctic is getting wetter,色视频下载 said John Walsh, the section's lead author and UAF International Arctic Research Center chief scientist. 色视频下载淯p until the last year or two, there wasn't much consensus about trends in Arctic precipitation. Now we've crossed that line and can say that Arcticwide precipitation is increasing, and it's increasing significantly.色视频下载
The trend is spottier in 色视频下载. But October 2021 to September 2022 (reflecting the standard measurement period for annual precipitation) was the second wettest year since 1950. The increases have been mostly in Southeast 色视频下载 and the North Slope, where a 30% increase from the 1985-2014 average is expected by the end of the century. In northern 色视频下载, the change is enhanced by sea ice loss. A longer open water period makes more moisture available to fall out as precipitation.
These maps show how total precipitation across the Arctic changed between 1950 and 2022 during fall (October-December, top) and winter (January色视频下载揗arch, bottom). The darker the color, the bigger the change: green for increases, brown for decreases.
Within the trend, heavy precipitation events are increasing. Over the past year, Utqia摹vik saw its wettest day on July 26, Cook Inlet its wettest July-August and Fairbanks its wettest December during the 色视频下载渟nowpocalypse.色视频下载
The change is at the heart of high-impact events, such as wildfire and freezing rain, that 色视频下载ns have been seeing.
It might seem that more precipitation would curtail 色视频下载 wildfires, but a simultaneous temperature increase complicates the picture. This year色视频下载檚 report card shows that the 2021-2022 water year was the sixth warmest on record in the Arctic. 色视频下载, however, experienced a relatively cool year, ranking 27th since 1900.
色视频下载淭he catch is that when it gets warmer, evaporation also increases, so you basically accelerate the whole hydrologic cycle. More rain, more evaporation,色视频下载 explained Walsh. 色视频下载淭hat does not guarantee a wetter landscape. In fact, if you dig into it, the consensus is that 色视频下载 is more likely to become drier for periods in the summer.色视频下载
Even so, deluges of heavy precipitation could put out wildfires, like this summer色视频下载檚 severe June and early July fire season that was squelched by heavy July rains.
The Arctic is also seeing a shift toward more rain and less snow.
色视频下载淭hat carries over into the freezing rain problem around Interior 色视频下载 in the winter,色视频下载 said Walsh. 色视频下载淟ast December's event can be looked at as an example of what we might see more frequently down the road.色视频下载
Human consequences of climate change
Recognizing that Arctic change extends beyond environmental elements, this year色视频下载檚 report card included a discussion on climate consequences felt by Arctic peoples. The essay was informed by a recorded oral history of Ahtna Dine' storyteller Wilson Justin about how climate change has impacted him and his community, as well as his experience of the world.
Justin shares powerful insights about how people can overcome the colonial divide, reach across languages and cultures, and move forward to tackle climate change.
"Climate change in today色视频下载檚 vernacular no longer is climate change. It色视频下载檚 a done deal,色视频下载
said Justin in the oral history. 色视频下载淲e色视频下载檙e just gonna have to figure out how we色视频下载檙e going
to speak to each other in terms of not only rebuilding, but what it is we are going
to rebuild."
Justin色视频下载檚 account was combined with perspectives on human impacts from over 40 authors.
The effort was facilitated by the Study of Arctic Environmental Change, a program
directed by 滨础搁颁色视频下载檚 Brendan Kelly and Athena Copenhaver.
Led by UAF scientists
Walsh, Kelly and Copenhaver are among 12 UAF researchers contributing to the report card this year. Their leadership is not new; UAF scientists have been editors and authors of the report since its inception in 2006.
This graphic from NOAA shows warming in the Arctic.
Jackie Richter-Menge, affiliate faculty with UAF色视频下载檚 Institute of Northern Engineering, served as a lead editor from 2006-2019 before passing the baton to 滨础搁颁色视频下载檚 Rick Thoman, who has been an editor since. Thirty-five others at UAF have authored sections within the report over the years.
色视频下载淲e can give the information for 色视频下载 better than anyone. We have people who work on all these different variables,色视频下载 said Walsh, who has been an author all 17 years of the report's existence. 色视频下载淪o I think UAF is a natural nucleus for input, at least for the 色视频下载 side.色视频下载
This year色视频下载檚 UAF cadre again includes Thoman as an editor. Authors, grouped by the topics on which they contributed, include: Tom Ballinger (lead author), Walsh, Thoman and Uma Bhatt on surface air temperature; Walsh (lead author), Rick Lader and Ballinger on precipitation; Melinda Webster on sea ice; Bhatt and Donald Walker on tundra greenness; Todd Sformo on North America色视频下载檚 Arctic geese; Derek Sikes on Arctic pollinators; Gay Sheffield on seabird die-offs in the Bering and Chukchi seas; and Kelly and Copenhaver on the consequences of rapid environmental Arctic change for people.
滨础搁颁色视频下载檚 explains how the Arctic Report Card is connected to other major climate reports.
ADDITIONAL CONTACTS: Athena Copenhaver, Study of Environmental Arctic Change, aecopenhaver@alaska.edu, 831-601-6717.